Last Monday, Umaima's parents gave birth to twins and named them Ashley and Gabriela. When they were first born, Ashley weighed 8.54 pounds and was 20.5 inches tall, and Gabriela weighed 8.39 pounds. How much did the babies weigh in total?
To find the weights of the 2 babies, we need to add their weights together. Ashley's weight + Gabriela's weight = total weight. ${8}$ ${5}$ ${4}$ ${8}$ ${3}$ ${9}$ ${+\vphantom{0}}$ ${3}$ ${9}$ ${6}$ ${1}$ Together, the babies weigh 16.93 pounds.